To open its 2018-19 season Londinium presents a thrilling programme of works on the theme of weird and wonderful creatures. Kenneth Leighton's unpublished 'Laudes Animantium' ('Praises of the Creatures') is a superb sequence of poems about animals, from Blake's Lamb and Tyger to Tennyson's Kraken, by way of Edward Lear and others, and finds its composer at the height of his powers. Ola Gjeilo's 'Unicornis Captivatur', based on remarkable fifteenth-century chants, introduces us to the unicorn, pelican, phoenix, hydra and crocodile. Finally, Bernard Hughes' 2011 'A Medieval Bestiary' explores the relationship between medieval man and the animal world. The dramatis personae, taken from a fourteenth-century source, include the manticore, parander, gryphon, monoceros, dragon, panther, and scorpion, and Hughes' music is no less inventive and exhilarating.

Gurney: The Western Playland
Kelly: Elegy
Ravel, arranged by Robert Weiner: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Stephan: Nachspiel
Nico Muhly: The Last Letter
Barber: Adagio for Strings

To commemorate the end of the Great War, Britten Sinfonia gives the first performance of a new arrangement of Nico Muhly's poignant The Last Letter as part of a compelling and dramatic evening of music and words.

Nico Muhly's The Last Letter sets an intriguing and moving selection of letters by First World War German and English soldiers and their loved ones, interspersed with music and poetry written by composers and poets on both sides of the conflict.

Bach: Air on a G String
Vivaldi: 4 Seasons
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Mozart: Piano Concerto in A major K414

Celebrate the end of the week with The Piccadilly Sinfonia, an exciting new orchestra featuring some of the UK’s most outstanding young professional musicians, lead by the sensational violinist Zoë Beyers, (leader of the CBSO). This dynamic ensemble present a programme of some of the greatest classical music ever written including Vivaldi’s masterpiece, “The Four Seasons” in the beautiful surroundings of St James’ Church, in the heart of London’s West End by the evocative glow of candlelight.
This special concert also features exceptional british pianist Warren Mailley-Smith, who has developed a large following across the UK thanks to his effortless technique and charismatic charm. One of his most extraordinary achievements is performing the complete solo works (3.5 million notes) of Frederick Chopin from memory. Mailley-Smith is a firm favourite with the Royal Family and he has been featured as Classic FM CD of the Week.

Tenor Mark Padmore is joined by principals of Britten Sinfonia for the London première of a new song cycle by Luke Styles, former Young Composer-in-Residence at Glyndebourne. The programme is crowned by Vaughan Williams’s On Wenlock Edge, which depicts rural life at a time when the First World War was drawing near.

'We have thought very carefully about how best my competition can benefit young conductors, and this is why we have decided to change the criteria for applications, broadening reach, while also ensuring that it is conductors at the very start of their careers who benefit. I am delighted to partner with medici.tv for the first live stream of the Competition, and also to allow the public into the preliminary rounds. I believe that the more we can open up music-making to the world, the more people will be as enthralled and inspired by it as I am, so I'm really pleased that so many more people will have the opportunity to see the finalists in action next year. Finally I want to thank the extraordinary conductors and musicians who are on the judging panel, as I know each of them will inspire everyone who takes part. I wish everyone who enters the very best of luck!' - Donatella Flick